Our trip to Prince Edward Island last saturday was a great experience for us. We were invited to go to a concert which was really a Pumpkin Festival held in a french school in Summerside. Arriving there, we sat in the front row. The first band to appear was the Chaissons from near Souris PEI, they were very entertaining, and kept the entire room clapping . Then the next band were called Siroit, they were part of the band or some who once were with the band, you can see the video above, and remember I am not a good video taker but this gives you an idea what it was like. The people danced to the music, and even did the congo around the room. We all enjoyed this so very much. The bands played Acadian music and Irish music, and could they ever play their fiddles. One part two from the Siroit band played the fiddles, and if you remember the song ,the devil went down to Georgia, then you remember the fiddle playing, well it was like that. They received a standing ovation from the crowd. And JayJay from the Chaisson band really played his fiddle some good.

We also went for a drive on the Island, and I took a few more photos . We came home today to nice sunny weather. Tonight it is raining . It is a night to just sit and relax and have a nice hot cuppa coffee. This blog is not very long, but I do hope you enjoy reading it anyway.

Until next time, thanks for the visit and please stop by again. You never never know what I will come up with next. grin.

Have a great day

Aline

P'tit Francois des Bois did not dissappear, he went away on vacation so do not worry he told me he will be returning possibly sometimes in November. Maybe it was because he had such a hard time with Rose Smallwood and went in hiding.grin.
P'tit Francois des bois est en vacance, it va revenir aussitot qu'il peut. Pour moi, il s'est cacher de Rose Smallwood pour une elan. Il m'a envoyer un email a cachette.
so worry pas!. Don't worry. I will let you know when he comes back online.
Something sad has happened in Bouctouche, a restaurant at Pays de la Sagouine burned last night, no injuries but their costumes were lost.
The weather is getting cooler now,especially at night time. So time to take out our winter clothes, and winterize our cars. Soon the white stuff will come so it is best to be prepared for it. Do you realize we are two months away from Christmas? Boy time goes by fast. I sure hope the year 2009 brings much happiness all over the world.
Thanks for the visit, this blog was really to let you know that P'tit Francois did not abandon us, he just needed a rest.
Have a great day
Aline

Genealogy is about finding where you come from, who you are, who your ancestors were. Genealogists work very hard at finding their roots, they usually do not give up. If they hit a cement block they try and go around it. When they find a clue to their research, it is like hitting a jackpot. So what does the photo have to do with genealogy? Well these toys are for our Christmas Toy Drive and all of the gift certificates and donations are from someone interested in genealogy and their family tree so far. The gift cards and donations are still coming in and I have more toys to buy.

Now back to genealogy and christmas. Are you having a hard time deciding what to buy your siblings, or parents or friends for Christmas? Why don't you make them a little family tree book. Just do their main surnames and add photos if you have some and little stories about them if you have any. Last Christmas I made one for my ex sister in law, it was her mother's line. Her mother had just passed away, I added some photos of her Mom and siblings in the book. She cried when she seen the family tree book and she was so very happy. What about cousins ? Would they treasure a little family tree book from you? Do you have friends into genealogy? Again genealogy books would be a great gift. You can give them a book on census, or even a genealogy software, I use Legacy and I am very happy with it. You can access Legacy on my website www.acadian-roots.com it is located towards the bottom of my sidebar. I have just received a gedcom file from someone in Australia who connects into my line and I have inserted in into my legacy. I am talking about Christmas today because you still have time to create a little book, or even a photo album from the time they were little to today.

I love the Christmas Season and this year I am going to enjoy it because I and many others will know that because of us, some needy or sick little boys and girls will be happy even if it is just for a little while.

Still speaking of genealogy, yesterday we went and met a lady and her husband, she is into genealogy so we had lots in common. The men were chatting in another room. This lady showed me her books, she has a large variety of them, we share some same ancestors and we discussed where they lived in Cocagne. I really enjoyed our day. And we will be going there again. She loaned me an acadian CD, I will bring it back to her. She showed me her photo albums, well some of them, she has more, and I was so interested in looking at them, she has sent me some to add to my photo gallery also. And more to come.

For you P'tit Francois readers, the last two weeks the article didnt appear in the newspaper, hopefully next saturday there will be one.

Thank you for listening, and thanks for the visit.

Have a great day

Aline

Brick Walls are sometimes built very sturdy, and sometimes they just won't fall down. Well I have had a few brick walls and a few days ago, one of them received a big crack in it I have been looking for my Chase line since 1976. One day I stumbled upon a land grant belonging to my Abraham Chase. Abraham Chase came over to Canada from England in he early 1800s, in the census it said he was born in England, and on his marriage record his surname was listed as Kess, Quessy,Chess, and he was listed as a stranger. So the priest probably could not understand his surname. So Abraham had children born under Quessy, Chase, and I even found some of them married under Chess. But no luck finding him in England, I wrote to many people there, this was before I had computer even. Anyway one day I was looking in land grants, and lo and behold, there was a land grant for one Abraham CHATE not Chase but CHATE in Richiboucto. So I searched for an Abraham Chate son of Abraham and Nannette Rose. One day on LDS site I found Abraham born 1797 in Deptford England son of Abraham and Ann. Then I found a brother and a sister of his. I could not find anymore on them in Deptford, I searched and searched, then I received some information that in the Poor Law were a John Chate, wife Martha and sons Abraham,Charles, and John I think in 1770 in Cuckfield Sussex England. I thought that this might be my ancestors but that is not the best of it. I had posted a querry on Genes Reunited mentioning my Abraham and his brother Charles. Last week I got a reply that there was a possible match for me. But I could not contact him via Genes Reunited because I was not a paying member, so I posted on a UK site asking if anyone was a member there , and could they contact this person for me. I got a reply, and they contacted this gentleman who lives in Australia, and he contacted me , and sent me a gedcom of the Chates, but he has little on my Abraham line but has where we connect and the date of birth of Abraham husband of Ann ( Nannette). His uncle traced the Chates to the late 1500s. Isn't that wonderful? Now I can focus my Chate line in the Sussex England area, to see if I can find a death for Abraham and Ann or information on Charles their son born 1795. The internet sure is a blessing at times.
The leaves are really falling from the trees, they are all orange and red and yellow.
Soon they will all dissappear until next spring.
I received more donations for our Christmas Toy Drive, I have two gifts cards to shop with at the moment. I am very pleased with the good response . Pretty soon I shall need an extra room for the toys. grin. I bought some barbie dolls, some little tractors, some books, something for infants, some teddy bears , two stuffed dogs, a little stuffed pony that they can sit on, and much more. Some little boy or girl are going to be so excited come christmas time.
Have a great day, thank you for the visit.
Aline

Losing a friend is something that is so very hard. Today my blog is about that.

Nine years ago, I met a gentleman, in a genealogy chat room. I later met his family. These folks came from Scotland,a nd for nine years they were my friends. Yesterday I received a call from the lady ,who said that my good friend had passed away on Sunday of a massive heart attack. They were on a trip in Texas visiting relatives when he took the heart attack. Before he left for their trip he told me they were going away to Texas for around a month, and were going to see Niagara Falls. He would let me know when they returned. I wished him a good trip, and waited to hear from him. Usually he would send me offlines to say he was ok. I kept sending offlines to him , I figured when he got to the computer he would have lots to read. I sent my last message to him on Wednesday always no reply at his end. My friend(his wife) telephoned me from Scotland to give me the news. I felt so very bad, but there is something that she said that made me feel so very good. She said at least you have one of his paintings and he never gave many away. He gave one to her, one to his mother and one to me. On mine he wrote my name on one of the boats and my maiden name on another one, and my late husbands name and my son. So I will treasure this painting you see above. My heart goes out to his family, I do know they will miss him so very much as many of his online friends will do.

Harry, rest in peace , I am going to miss you so very much. Jean and girls my sincere sympathy to you, he loved you.

Aline

Fall has arrived and yesterday we went for a drive, I wanted to go to Albert County in New Brunswick to see the colors. The weather was beautiful . Driving along the highway it was something so very nice to see. But that was not what I wanted to see, I wanted to go to a place called cooked creek lookout. I had gone there before my husband passed away. Anyway we turned up this road from Riverside Albert and the road was uphill and on each side of the road were these various colors of oranges, yellows and greens. Arriving at the top of the road, it comes to a dead end with hiking trails and paths , we saw many cars and motorcycles already there. There was a platform for the scenic lookup. If you watch the video, you will see how beautiful it is. We also walked along a path, I took a few still photos and with the weather so lovely , the walk was very relaxing. So then we began to get hungry and we decided to go to Alma in Albert County. We stopped at this nice little takeout near the water. The tide was low and there were two fishing boats on the shore. I should have take a photo but I was too hungry to think of photos . grin. So we each bought a hotdog, and they were some good. Then we decided to return home. Anyway I wanted to share this little video with you, I am not a professional photographer as you can see. grin.

Today is Thanksgiving in Canada, the weather is lovely, but the weatherman is calling for overcast and possible showers, I do hope he is wrong. grin.

Well guess I have talked your ears off , so I will say thank you for the lovely visit, do drop by anytime.

Have a great day

Aline

Bouctouche New Brunswick is a very old parish. Many Acadians came from Memramcook to settle there. Among the first families were some ,Cormiers,LeBlancs, Allains,Collets,Girouards. Today if someone mentions Bouctouche, many think of La Sagouine . Many folks have never been to Bouctouche but have ancestors who did come from there. If you go to my website www.acadian-roots.com and click on Acadian Marriages, you will see I have added some marriages from Bouctouche in New Brunswick Canada. When you get there, you will see a photo at the top of the page. That used to be the old catholic church back in the late 1800s. That land once belonged to Jacques Cormier husband of Osite Pothier, and that area was also known as Pointe A Jacquot. The building on the left used to be a convent for young girls, today it has been converted to a museum. And if you follow that road today you will arrive at La Dune, and au Fond de la Baie.
My mother in law used to tell me that she used to go to Fond de la Baie and go to the DUNE by rowboat to get shellfish, barclams probably or quahawgs.
Before the Dune was made famous I remember going there with my late husband, there used to be a take out on the main road, we would get some fried clams and french fries and park our car near the water, watching the waves roll in and the seagulls over head, and people walking on the beautiful sand. It was a very relaxing atmosphere. In Bouctouche today there is a beautiful park built by Irvine I believe, right next to an old cemetery also on the same road. If you ever go to Bouctouche be sure to check out the park, the Dune, La Sagouine Show,and try out some good tasty Acadian meals. If you read my P'tit Francois stories you will notice he talks a lot about his home Au fond de la Baie. grin.
And be sure to check out my Bouctouche Marriages on my website, I have not added all the marriages but I have added quite a few of them.
Changing the subject, our toy drive is doing pretty well, a few days ago, I bought two white teddy bears, spiderman cars, a little tractor, another little doll, and an alphabet puzzle board with a gift card I received.
So now I will close by saying thank you for the lovely visit, and a very HAPPY THANKSGIVING to the ones who are celebrating.
Have a great day
Aline

Fall has arrived, with the fall comes the cooler nights but for a short while we can enjoy nature in its full fall colors splenders. yesterday we went for a drive in the country, we went to find someone's home. Well we did find the house and it was hidden from view and a long way from the main road. Many of us say to ourselves IF we were rich we would go to other countries, but if we look very close at our own surroundings, there are beautiful places we have not stumbled upon. I remember one year, a friend and I went to check out an estate sale. We had never gone that way before. Well when we arrived the estate was again far from the main road, and from the road we could not see it. I was amazed at the beauty of the place. They had a fish pond and a little canoe , they had a brook like the one above situated on their property just down the hill. The house was gorgeous inside. I could not believe the beauty of it, and not knowing it was so close to home. So when you go for a Sunday Drive, sometime take a back road that you have never gone on. Make sure your gas tank is full tho, you would not want to run out of gas and have to walk. Now would be a perfect time or maybe next week to take that Sunday Drive through the old back roads to see the beautiful fall colors.

I love the photo above that I took yesterday, I love scenery with water and little brooks and streams. But if you have a dream about going on a vacation elsewhere , do so. I would love to see Crail Scotland one day, it is a beautiful little village near Dunfermline in Scotland. A friend of mine made a painting for me of Crail and sent it to me from Scotland. The painting shows three fishing boats and my friend put my maiden surname on one of the boats. Go to google, type in Crail Scotland and see how beautiful Crail Scotland is.

On another note and speaking of the United Kingdom, I belong to Genes Reunited, I am not a paid member BUT today I received a message that there is a MARTIN DAVEY who has registered, he may not be a paid member either, BUT he has a name that could possibly connect to my CHATE line. He has a Charles Chate born 1795 in Deptford England, I have a brother to my Abraham named Charles also born 1795 in Deptford England. Boy I wish I could contact him to see if he has anything that would help me with my CHATE line. So if any of you are a member of GENES REUNITED, maybe you could contact this Martin Davey, that is all I know of him.

Last night I began wrapping the toys for our Christmas Toy Drive. What I did, is once they were wrapped I added a tag, on the tag I wrote Boy age 4 plus or Girl age 3 plus from Texas USA, or Darthmouth NS and so on. We have a name the Toy Dogs contest going in our Chat n Brag, our members are giving a name for two dogs one brown and one black n white, once the names are all in , we are going to vote on the best two names, then I will put the names on the toy dogs ,probably on a tag around their neck, and say something like " Hello my name is Spot".

We are having fun at the same time, we are doing a good thing for the needy or sick children.

We have a deadline for the gift certificates , which will be on November 15th in order for me to buy the toys , get them wrapped and prepare for my holidays . But if someone prefers to send the toys then that deadline can be up to the third week before Christmas so that we can deliver them in time.

Our christmas gift exchange between the members of our genealogy group is October 31 so that we can pick the names, my Mom who is 90 years of age, will be doing the name drawing, it will be something new for her .

Well I think I have talked your ears off today, grin, thank you so much for the lovely visit, do stop by again.

Have a great day

Aline

Christmas Toys. Why did I add this photo of toys on my blog you ask? Well I shall tell you why.

IN our genealogy group, this will be our second year we exchange christmas presents among the ones who want to join.

Last year it went very well and this year we are more of us who have joined the exchange.

During the Christmas Season I always feel so bad for the ones who will not be having a good Christmas. Even tho that there are organizations helping out there, there are always some children who do not have the opportunity to get a toy. And some get used toys , that have been fixed. So I did not really think many would agree on having a Toy Drive, but I decided to try anyway. One or Two Toys are better than none at all. One toy makes a child happy for a little while at least. Two Toys is better than one, because now there are two happy children. But I am pleased with the result I have gotten, many are sending me gift cards .

Today I had two cards to buy toys with,so off to Walmart I went. I did not have a clue what I would come home with, but I saw this big dog looking at me. He was probably saying "Buy me, buy me". So I bought him and I saw this black and white dog, he looked like a lazy hazy days of summer dog. Yep I bought him too. Then I saw some story books, the lion king, beauty and the beast and cars all stories that the children will enjoy , a CD comes with the book. So as you can see by the photo, there will be some happy children this Christmas . I know also that the ones who have joined in our Toy Drive are already feeling good, they see the toys that a child or two will be getting from them. If any of you are reading this and asking how do you join? Where do you send the toy? Well on the right side of my blog you will see Christmas Toy Drive or you can go to my website http://www.acadian-roots.com/ click on the Christmas Url and contact me there.

So far the plan is to take the toys to the hospitals , we have two hospitals and if there are toys left over they will go to the second hospital and if there are still toys left over there are other organizations I can give them to. But things could change , if we find another place that is more in need of the toys we can change our minds. Right now, the goal is to collect the toys first.

Now changing the subject and getting back to genealogy. I am wondering if any of you readers are interested in joining our acadianroots genealogy group and willing to help others. I would love to see some folks with access to Quebec records, to Nova Scotia, Newfoundland,PEI,Maine, Massachussettes, or anywhere that the Acadians settled or French Canadians or Cajuns, as you know, the more united we are the more chances we have of finding our lost ancestors, or finding cousins, or sharing family photos and stories. If a new member joins our group and is looking for someone in Maine USA for instance, if we had someone (can be more than one person) from that area , they might be able to help out,

We have members from parts of Louisiana, from England, and the more researchers we have to help out the better. So if you want to help or if you need help and want to join, you can either contact me by writing Invite in subject line, or by joining my back door group http://groups.yahoo.com/group/petiteacadienne/

Once you are in petiteacadienne, I will contact you there and invite you. That group is only used to invite you to acadianroots since I made acadianroots genealogy group by invite only.

Well that is it for today, thanks for the visit. Do come again.

Have a great day

Aline

ED BARRIEAU, on a Sad Note, yesterday after returning from the funeral parlor to pay my respects to my brother's mother in law , I logged on my computer to check my emails messages going to our acadianrootsclub genealogy group, and I was saddened to receive and post a message regarding one of our members . His name was Ed Barrieau, I am sure many of you have met or talked to him on the phone, he was a genealogist and a very nice gentleman. He lived in New Mexico. If anyone would happen to carry a conversation with him, he would say, "Call Me".
If he saw something that was wrong on our message boards , right away he would reply and correct us. On the message written to us by his daughter in law, she states that he really enjoyed our genealogy group, that made me feel good. He had not posted on our board in a while and not long ago, I asked about him.
I know our group will miss Ed and I know Paul LeBlanc's group will also miss him.
So if you knew Ed Barrieau or even if you didn't , just mention him in passing when you say your prayers.
On a lighter note, and still speaking of funerals, this morning George and I went to the funeral of my brother's mother in law. The church was very small, but nice. I had done that cemetery a while back, it was mostly an irish cemetery but lots of acadians buried there. Anyway I was sitting in the pew, and the priest began to speak, I looked at him, and I said to myself, I knew him. But as we get older we change a bit, and he was older , white hair, but listening to his speech, I said yes that is him. So after the service we went below the church for a lunch, and he came down. George said go talk to him, I was a bit hesitant at first but I got brave and up I walked to the priest. I said are you Father????, he replied yes I am. I said I know you don't remember me, but we were in the same school class for eight years. He said what is your last name, I said my first one is Aline, he was still trying to remember, when I said my surname, Yes he remembered and I said my brother John is over there, Oh he said I must go talk with him. So off he went to chat with my brother, he was telling the family John used to beat him up in School, but I am sure he was teasing. I asked him about his sister who also was in my class. He told me she married a guy from Newfoundland. It would be nice to see her sometimes. But it sure is a small world. This priest has been in the priesthood for 40 years.
Then another lady I knew from long ago, said hello to me, she was one of the kitchen volunteers and I knew her back in the 1960s hadn't seen her for ages.
Funerals are sad, but funerals also brings old friends and family that have not seen one another for a long time together and that is a good thing.
Thanks for the lovely visit, stop by anytime.
Have a great day.
Aline

Bloomers!!! What would you think Bloomers were? No the ones I am talking about were not flowers, but they could have been made from Flour Bags. Would any of you remember the heavy white flour bags? Well my Mom told me that her mother used to wash the white flour bags and make clothing with them. And Mom said , my grandmother made BLOOMERS for the girls. Have you guessed yet? Mom said sometimes hers would have printed words or the name of the flour company but you would not see the writing unless she would lean over. grin. Now you guessed it, Bloomers were underpants. I am sure Mom must have made me wear them at one time or another because I remember wearing some underclothes with lastic around the legs. I don't think my grandaughter would be caught wearing Bloomers today. But at that time it was the way of living, and staying warm I guess.
The other day in our Chat n Brag room we were discussing those long brown stockings I think I already talked about that, but yesterday Mom and I were talking about the things she saved. When I got married, she gave me my little baby sweater set, it was sort of a peach color, maybe it was because it was old, but it was sweater, a bonnet and stockings. The stockings were knitted right to above the knees and the set was knitted with wool. So it must have kept me very warm. So I in turn gave my sweater set to my grandaughter, and at the moment my daughter in law has a Jessica Doll wearing my sweater set. Mom also had a baby christening set that she wore on my oldest sister born in 1935 and the set was worn by all of us kids and most of Mom's grandchildren. Now she has given the set to my oldest sister which is very appropriate, since she was the first one christened in it.
And yesterday, my Mom gave my son, something she had for a long time, it was an empty shell from the second world war. My son's eyes lit up when he saw it, he said Yep I'm keeping this. So as you can see, my Mom saved things, she saved a lot of my old valentines, she saved my first birthday card in 1943 at age one. I have it now, she saved our school report cards, I have mine. And I have saved things, I saved some of my grandchildren's favorite toys, I had saved my son's report cards and gave them to him. I have much more saved, but it has been in my trunk since I got married and that was many years ago. I have some odd cups and saucers that I received on my wedding day , oh and I also have something my Mom gave me long ago, it is two granite pie plates that she had when she was newly married.
So I guess I take after my Mom, now I am hunting for Old photos to save and share of my ancestors or the places they lived .
Now I hope I did not bore you today, seems as if there was a lot of "I' "me".Grin.
I have received another gift certificat for our Toy Drive today so it will be off to Walmart to shop for more Christmas Toys.
Thank you for the lovely visit, hope to see you again
Have a great day
Aline